. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/TBT/N/MEX/198 
6 May 2010 
 (10-2566) 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:   Spanish 
  
 
NOTIFICATION 
 
The following notification is being circ ulated in accordance with Article 10.6 
 
1. Member to Agreement notifying:   MEXICO
 
If applicable, name of local government involved (Articles 3.2 and 7.2):  
2. Agency responsible:   Secretaría de Salud  (Ministry of Health) 
Name and address (including telephone  and fax numbers, e-mail and website 
addresses, if available) of  agency or authority designated to handle comments 
regarding the notification shall be  indicated if different from above:  
Comité Consultivo Nacional de Normaliz ación de Regulación y Fomento Sanitario  
(National Advisory Committee on Standardiza tion for the Regulation and Promotion of 
Health) 
Monterrey número 33, planta baja, Colonia Roma 
Código postal 06700, México, D.F. Tel.: 50 80 52 00, Ext. 1333 Fax: 55 11 14 99 E-mail: rfs@cofepris.gob.mx 
Website: http://www.salud.gob.mx/
 
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [X], 2.10.1 [ ], 5.6.2 [ ], 5.7.1 [ ], other:  
4. Products covered (HS or CCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff heading.  
ICS numbers may be provided in  addition, where applicable):   Toys and school items 
5. Title, number of pages and lang uage(s) of the notified document:  
PROY-NOM-252-SSA1-2008, Salud ambiental.  Juguetes y artículos escolares.  Límites de 
biodisponibilidad de metales pesados.  Esp ecificaciones químicas y métodos de prueba.  
(Draft Mexican Official Standard PROY- NOM 252 SSA1 2008:  Environmental health.  
Toys and school items.  Bioavaila bility limits for heavy metals.  Chemical specifications 
and test methods.) (16 pages, in Spanish) 
6. Description of content:   Paints and inks which may contain metals and certain 
compound-forming elements are used in the manufacture or to coat the surfaces of 
consumer items with which persons may come into contact.  Such paints and inks pose a 
health risk when the compounds they contain are toxic.  The risk of exposure to certain 
elements present in paints and inks, such as heavy metals, is greater for children under 
three years old and of pre-school age given their tendency to put non-edible objects in their mouths (a form of behaviour known as "pica" ).  Sucking, licking or swallowing objects 
coated in paints containing metallic elements enables such substances to enter the organism 
via the digestive tract. G/TBT/N/MEX/198 
Page 2  
 
  7. Objective and rationale, including the nature of urgent problems where applicable:  
The notified Mexican Official Standard sets fo rth health requirements for toys and school 
items.  It is binding on natural and legal pers ons engaged in the manufacture, importation or 
marketing of these products. 
The Standard establishes bioavailability limits a nd test methods for the following elements:  
antimony, arsenic, barium, cadmium, chromium, lead, mercury and selenium.  These limits 
and test methods are mandatory for toys aimed at infants under three years of age and school items for pre-school children, which are at risk of being sucked, licked or 
swallowed. 
The Standard does not apply to the following: 
(a) School items for pre-school use, toys, and parts thereof (which have been imported 
under a temporary regime) intended for export; 
(b) mass pigmented toys; 
(c) packaging and packing, instructions, leafle ts and informative material concerning 
the product, when not a functional part of the toy or school item; 
(d) microfoil balloons of more than 10.16 cm . in diameter which are inflated using 
helium; 
(e) decorations of a purely ornamental natu re for Christmas and other festivities, 
including children's parties;  and 
(f) games and toys intended for collective u se in parks, playgrounds, play areas and 
other recreational areas, such as swings, sandpits, slides, seesaws, climbing frames, 
roundabouts, playhouses, children's tents, in flatable toys, and pools, except those 
with protruding elements or designs. 
8. Relevant documents:   Diario Oficial de la Federación (Official Journal) of 27 April 2010:  
http://www.dof.gob.mx/  
9. Proposed date of adoption: 
Proposed date of entry into force:   Upon publication as a Mexican Official 
Standard in the Official Journal. 
60 calendar days after publication in the 
Official Journal. 
10. Final date for comments:   28 June 2010 
11. Texts available from:  National enquiry  point [X] or address, telephone and fax 
numbers, e-mail and website addresses,  if available of the other body: 
Secretaría de Economía 
Subsecretaría de Competitividad y Normatividad Dirección General de Normas Tel.: +(52) 55 5729 9100, Ext. 43217 Fax: +(52) 55 5520 9715 
Website: http://www.economia-noms.gob.mx/?P=144
 
E-mail: normasomc@economia.gob.mx and/or figueroa@economia.gob.mx 
Text also available at: 
http://members.wto.org/crnattach ments/2010/tbt/mex/10_1857_00_s.pdf